September 08, 2008

Pad Thai

I've been slowing down on posting a bit since my handsome cohort returned to town. What can I say? I've been too busy cooking and eating out and basking in the glow of having him back home to sit down at the computer. But the good news is, I have about 3 posts "in the can" and am excited to share them with y'all.

I love Thai food (that was a sharp left turn, I know, but let's get to the good stuff.) but aside from the occasional stir fry I don't cook much Asian cuisine at home. This must change, especially with the success of my very first Pad Thai. OMG, this turned out delicious.

Before I go any further, I'll tell you that although I did adapt and add too her recipe, my main source of inspiration came from from one of my favorite blogs, Chez Pim. She's a pretty famous food blogger and did and entire write up on Pad Thai for Beginners. Like all her stuff, it's well written and thorough. If you've never made Pad Thai before and would like to, I'd certainly recommend checking that post out first. It helped me quite a bit. So thank you Pim!

Mix tamarind and fish sauce together then add seasonings according to your taste. Results: This was super duper salty. Next time I would use a bit less fish sauce because it is a bit too intense for my palate. Also, when I used with the noodles, I over indulged, less is more people, less is more.

Remaining Ingredients:

- Pad Thai noodles. Soak in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water. I loved the noodles, they had a really wonderful consistency, and unlike regular pasta they didn't get sticky at all and kept quite well in the refrigerator.

Garnishes:

- Firm Tofu - cubed. Make sure you use very firm tofu. The kind I bought was a bit on the soft side, and while it held up in the pan I feel it would have been better had it been firmer.- Egg (there is a trick to making the egg just right - screwed that up the first time around, then went back and read how Pim did it. Guess what? Perfecto!)- Bean sprouts- Green onions - chopped - use green and white parts.- Red bell pepper - chopped or in matchsticks.- Radishes - thinly sliced- Cilantro - chopped - Chili sauce - burns your lips in the most wonderful way possible. -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Heat a decent amount of oil in the wok (another rookie mistake I made. didn't use enough the first time and my noodles stuck to the pan.) Add the tofu and a bit of sauce and cook until the tofu browns. Add a handful of noodles and a bit more sauce (gentle reminder - don't drown it.) and toss the noodles to coat. Then add the been sprouts, green onions and bell peppers. Cook until the veggies soften a bit, but not too long, they should still have a nice crisp to them. Then shove all the ingredients up the side of the wok and tilt it a bit so some oil runs back down into the empty spot in the pan. Crack the egg, break the yolk, and let it cook for about a minute or so. Then, after it's cooked, mix it back in with the noodles. Garnish with cilantro, radishes, more green onions and of course that lovely chili sauce! The fun part for us was that everyone got to garnish it in their own way. Little Chef passed on the chili sauce and I believe that was a wise move on her part! Enjoy and make sure to check out Pim's Pad Thai For Beginners to learn more!

i'm glad you're able to spend some quality time with the handsome cohort, especially when it involves eating out. :) i've actually never had pad thai, but it looks pretty good from where i'm sitting. :)